Hello!

I boarded this space flight a little late—in fact, I almost didn’t make it. During the first round of moon flight lottery tickets up for grabs, I was hiding out, studiously trying to stay sane in the chaos of 2020. A deadly pandemic and insurrectionists can take its toll on an empathetic soul.  

But fate intervened, and here I am. Gwen Gardner, Author, manifest #123 of the space travel writers project known as Writers on the Moon. 

The notion of sending books to the moon is completely crazy and wonderful. Future anthropologists (human or alien?) discovering our payloads will be thrilled at what we’ve sent for them to find. A geocache of epic proportions! They will be years in dissecting and studying it all. 

What will it mean to them?

What does it mean to me?

The fact that we’re “allowed to sneak” stowaways aboard heightened the thrill and has given this project so much more meaning to me. Choosing who to bring with me, and why, evolved over several weeks and kept growing to the point that I had to discard some items to make room for others to fit it all into my payload allotment. I did my best—please forgive me if I missed anyone. 

First, I am a writer. It’s how I “won” a spot on this mission. Yet there are so many others who contributed to my writing evolution and journey that allowed me to be here. 

Stowaway #1. My critique partner and author, Angela Brown (and her helper, Molly). Angela’s insights and contribution in helping me to become a better writer has been enormous. I had to bring her and her book Peel to the moon with me!

Stowaway #2 is M. Pax. Mary is the founder of our Untethered Realms writers group, and she writes the very popular Backworlds series. If ever a science fiction author should go to the moon, it’s her. I included her The Backworlds book 1 in my payload. 

Stowaway #3 is the group Untethered Realms. These authors include Angela Brown, Jeff Chapman, Cathrina Constantine, Julie Flanders, River Fairchild, Gwen Gardner, Misha/M. Gerrick, Meradeth Houston, Graeme Ing, Simon Kewin, M. Pax, Christine Rains, Cherie Reich, and Catherine Stine. 

Untethered Realms is a support group in which we’ve published short story anthologies of speculative fiction together. Behind the scenes we bandy about ideas, share information, and offer advice. I’ve included our Elements of Untethered Realms anthology, a compilation of our anthologies Twisted Earths, Mayhem in the Air, Ghosts of Fire, and Spirits in the Water. 

Stowaway #4. Corona Zschusschen is a very talented Dutch illustrator from the Netherlands. 

As a self-published author, I must provide my own book covers. I’m not the least bit talented in that way. But Corona is! She has illustrated all my covers to date. She even made my A Stitch in Crime cover (see below) “snow” for me! I am endlessly enthralled by it.

A point of interest is that I’ve met all of the above friends online. The advent of the internet and social media has allowed me to make these special connections. Which brings me to the README file I included with my payload for future space explorers to find. I’ve included it below to try to better explain my thoughts on connection…

README_Gardner_Gwen Manifest #123

At this juncture in the history of our Earth, mankind has been sending people into space for 60 years. We have landed rockets on the moon, have seen the miracle of men walking on its surface. These men became instant “stars” having done something no one on Earth had done before. They were brave men and women who risked their lives to advance science to explore the unknown and to broaden our understanding of the universe and our place in it. 

They didn’t do it alone. Behind the scenes were thousands of men and women doing the math, calculating how to make the rockets fly, stay in orbit, and return home again. 

I gaze at the moon from Earth and am reminded of how small I am, how infinitesimal the space is that I occupy in the universe. I am but a speck, a blip, a spark. But as small as I am, only I can play my particular part in the evolution of the universe. I am insignificant and significant at the same time. It is mindboggling to me because I am no less important in the unfolding of the universe than the movers and shakers who have done wondrous things. 

And just like the early space travelers couldn’t make the journey alone, neither can I. Which is why those important to me are included in my payload for this journey to the moon: My critique partner, also an author. My illustrator who created my book covers. My friends and family, my beloved pets. Their journeys are alongside mine. They occupy the spaces next to mine. 

Our paths intertwine and connect and are linked in a multitude of ways. If we were to draw lines to connect the ways, we would find interconnectedness in ways we never imagined. Their journeys are as important to me as mine. 

Now to the point I’m trying to make. As scientific and as mathematical as the space journey is, and must be, we are all connected—out of love. It is love that holds mankind together, not science. Which is why I couldn’t go to the moon without taking those I love. 

This adventure to the moon began with sending books for future anthropologists to find and study and learn about writers and our lives in the 21st century. I hope you find that the books I’ve written and included reflect this interconnection that we all share.  

At almost 50 years old, I came to writing later in life (long story, pun intended). Even so, I’d been hurtling toward this moment in time all along. Everything has unfolded as it should. The Universe knows what it’s doing. 

***

My Stowaways

#1 Angela Brown – critique partner, fellow writer and friend

#2 Mary Pax – fellow writer and friend

#3 Untethered Realms – writer friends (Angela Brown, Jeff Chapman, Cathrina Constantine, Julie Flanders, River Fairchild, Gwen Gardner, Misha/M. Gerrick, Meradeth Houston, Graeme Ing, Simon Kewin, M. Pax, Christine Rains, Cherie Reich, and Catherine Stine.) 

#4 Corona Zschusschen – illustrator

#5 Amber Gardner (Crosser)

#6 John Crosser – son-in-law

#7 Allan Gardner – husband

#8 Juanita Newman – grandmother

#9 Fritz “the cat” Gardner

#10 Koko “the pup” Gardner

#11 Tuffy “the pup” Gardner

#12 Chance and Diego “the pups” Gardner

#13 Dude “the turtle” Gardner

#14 Elena Robbins – reading – great niece

#15 Jovi Dykes – reading

#16 Jennings Dykes – reading

#17 Jonathan Schmitt – family friend

#18 Lloyd Newman – grandpa

#19 Ann Zachau – family friend

#20 Charles Brannon – Dad

#21 Donna Richardson – Sister

#22 Mildred Brannon – Mother

#23 Linnea Tatupu – family friend

#24 Cindy Chapman – best friend

#25 Alyssa Ward – niece

#26 Chris Robbins – nephew

#27 Jim Richardson – brother-in-law

#28 Casey “the pup” Richardson

Below are my Stowaway Family and Friends without assigned numbers (aka I ran out of time). These are people that have been kind to me and are worth knowing. I love them all. 

Mike Gardner

Mark Baxter

Michelle Baxter

Sammy Baxter

Scott

Emma

Clara Creelman

Rob Hanson

Deb Hanson

Donna Betts

Sue Kargodorian

Denise Hofacre

Robin Hofacre

Caroline and Roy Esquivel

Donny Kunst

Joyce

Shonna and Russ Chancellor

Todd Carr

Darren Carr

Rosie Hill

Linda and Ernie Gomez

The Philleys, Don-Denise and kids

Edward and Joan Philley

Waylon and Lynn Babb

Kelli Babb

Kristina Babb-Pullen

Cliff Babb

Deanna Babb-Stewart

Below are the Stowaways from Poolscape Unlimited where I’ve worked on and off since 1983 and will retire in 2021:

Joe Lukacik

Gwen Gardner

Jayme Chapman-Dykes

Tommy Dykes

Francisco “Paco” Mendoza

Alvaro Mendoza

Matias Cruz

Francisco “Pancho” Marquez

Marino Guerrero

Mark Baxter

Martine “Jeep” Ledezma

John Morgan

Luis Morales

Sergio Morales

Kirk Chapman

Saul Rios

Marcus Morgan

Jose Saenz

David Ledesma

Jose Vasquez

Sergio Herrera

Eddie Rivera